Denny Hamlin is pole winner; Kurt Busch settles in at No. 2

BRISTOL, Tenn. — Denny Hamlin is on the pole for the race Saturday night at Bristol Motor Speedway. First question: Where is Joey Logano?

Logano, who tangled with Hamlin last March at Bristol, is starting sixth.

Denny Hamlin will start on the front row for the Bristol night race. (AP Photo)

That's part of the joy of Bristol, trying to figure out where drivers who have had rivalries are starting.

Here is the starting lineup for the Irwin Tools Night Race scheduled for 500 laps Saturday night at BMS; green flag is scheduled for 7:43 ET:

1. Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing No. 11 Toyota — Hasn't had a top-10 in his past 10 races. But he led 117 laps at Bristol in March, so there's at least the potential for him to snap that skid. The pole — his first at Bristol — just strengthens that potential.

2. Kurt Busch, Furniture Row Racing No. 78 Chevrolet — He wanted to keep his free agency from being a distraction. This week, it became one. Will need to dig deep to continue to cling to Chase berth but this is a place where he does have five Cup wins. His team already showed it could dig deep repairing a car damaged Friday at practice.

3. Carl Edwards, Roush Fenway Racing No. 99 Ford — He's third in the standings but has finished third or better just four times this year.

11. Mark Martin, Stewart-Haas Racing No. 14 Chevrolet — Fourth different driver in last four weeks for this team trying to overcome the loss of their driver (Tony Stewart) because of injury. Martin to run 12 of final 13 races for SHR.

12. Brad Keselowski, Penske Racing No. 2 Ford — Desperate for a win. Bristol might be the best place for him to score first victory of 2013.

13. Jimmie Johnson, Hendrick Motorsports No. 48 Chevrolet — Has one career win at Bristol (in March 2010) and has an OK average of 14.35 there. Salvaged good starting spot after spin during his qualifying run.

14. Marcos Ambrose, Richard Petty Motorsports No. 9 Ford — Actually probably felt better about his ninth at Michigan than he did his seventh in the Nationwide race at Mid-Ohio during a double-duty week.

15. Kevin Harvick, Richard Childress Racing No. 29 Chevrolet — Learned this week that Rodney Childers will be his crew chief next year. Will be hard not to think about 2014 while closing out the year at RCR.

16. Juan Pablo Montoya, Earnhardt Ganassi Racing No. 42 Chevrolet — Seems like months ago, not just a week ago, it was learned that Montoya would not return to EGR in 2014.

17. David Ragan, Front Row Motorsports No. 34 Ford — Led one lap at Michigan. He actually has led in nine races this year (but for only a total of 15 laps).

18. Ryan Truex, Phoenix Racing No. 51 Chevrolet — Making his Cup debut this weekend, Truex also will drive this car in two weeks at Richmond. Has opened up strong with a great starting spot for a rookie.

19. Dale Earnhardt Jr., Hendrick Motorsports No. 88 Chevrolet — No driver has had it any worse the last two weeks than Earnhardt, whose 30th at the Glen and 36th at Michigan have now put him on the Chase bubble.

20. Jamie McMurray, Earnhardt Ganassi Racing No. 1 Chevrolet — Was 10th at Bristol in March for his first top-10 of five that he has had this year.

24. Clint Bowyer, Michael Waltrip Racing No. 15 Toyota — If he wants, can take a risk for the win over the next three weeks as he sits second in the standings. Could you imagine if it's him and Gordon coming to the checkerds?

25. David Gilliland, Front Row Motorsports No. 38 Ford — A top-25 finish will be considered a good day. He was 24th at Bristol in March.

30. Casey Mears, Germain Racing No. 13 Ford — Has finished outside the top-25 in just two of his last 12 starts.

31. David Reutimann, BK Racing No. 83 Toyota — Hasn't finished on the lead lap in last seven races.

32. Jeff Gordon, Hendrick Motorsports No. 24 Chevrolet — Has seen his Chase for the Sprint Cup hopes slipping away the past two weeks. He's 14th in the standings, 26 points out of 10th. Did nothing to help his cause with a horrible qualifying lap.

33. Landon Cassill, Mike Hillman Racing Chevrolet — Had to be in top-36 in qualifying to make race. He did that, so in some ways a victory.

42. Scott Speed, Leavine Family Racing No. 95 Ford — A vibration ended his day after just 35 laps at Michigan.

43. Kyle Busch, Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota — Bad news: Wrecked twice on qualifying lap but won't need a backup. Good news: His 14 career wins in three national series at Bristol is a record. But in Cup he has "just" five — Darrell Waltrip has 12.